Snap check of troops in western Russia has nothing to do with Ukraine events - Moscow
26 February 2014, 18:21
The current check of the troops of Western military district is unrelated to developments in Ukraine, Defense Minister Army Gen. Sergei Shoigu said.
'I would like to draw particular attention of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) press attaches that the Russian Federation strictly abides by the Vienna Document 2011,' Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told military attaches in Moscow on Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered a snap check of the battle-readiness of the armed forces in the west and centre of the country, including the area bordering Ukraine.
'The commander-in-chief has set the task of checking the capability of the armed forces to deal with crisis situations posing a threat to the military security of the country,' said Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
The drill involves army, navy and airforce troops based in the western military district, a vast territory bordering Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, Finland and the Arctic.
Putin ordered a similar check last year and said at the time that such drills should become regular events.
The drill, which Shoigu said is to check the troops' effectiveness in 'resolving crisis situations threatening military security and also anti-terrorist (operations),' will run from Wednesday to March 3.
The last such check was carried out in July last year, involving more than 80,000 troops in far eastern Russia. It was the largest such snap check since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Voice of Russia, Interfax, AFP
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